SPecialised Education programmes in CybersecuriTy and RObotics

SPECTRO provides eligible students the financial support to take part to the education programmes and offers scholarship programmes to promote diversity in terms of gender, age, social and economic background. SPECTRO’s scholarships allow the greatest number to have access to high-quality education in digital areas and increase diversity among students and future digital experts.

The students awarded a scholarship will be financially supported during their two years of studies in one of the double-degree in Masters’ programmes offered by SPECTRO.

Types of scholarships available

Three types of scholarships are available:

• scholarship of excellence, including a full tuition fee waivers and a monthly allowance,
• full tuition fee waivers,
• half tuition fee waivers.

The monthly allowance will be weighted based on the country correction coefficient (CCCs) of the country where a student is studying. Thus, the monthly allowance provided to a student it can vary between the first and second year of studies.

How to apply

To apply to a SPECTRO scholarship, candidates must enrol into one of SPECTRO two master’s programmes via the EIT Digital Master School Application portal.

Eligibility requirements

SPECTRO scholarships are available to nationals or residents of one of the eligible countries:

• EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
• Listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme (associated countries) or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature

Only students enrolled and accepted in one of SPECTRO Masters’ programme are eligible to financial support. When receiving their letter of acceptance and study offer, students will be notified of their scholarship allocation.

Selection criteria

The scholarships will award applicants based on merit. To quantify merit, a merit score (on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the maximum) will be given to each applicant accepted to one of the master’s programmes. Three elements will be considered in assigning a merit score:

• previous academic and professional experience of an applicant,
• curriculum vitae, and
• letter of motivation, which also includes the motivation for an applicant to receive financial support.

The initial merit score value will be an average of the two merit scores assigned by the two Local Programme Coordinators accepting an applicant (the Local Coordinator at the Entry University and the Local Coordinator at the Exit University). The merit scores assigned by Local Programme Coordinators will be reviewed by Programme Leaders to ensure uniformity between the scores given by Local Programme Coordinators from different universities and different countries. A final meeting including the Programme Leaders, all Local Programme Coordinators and the Quality Assurance Manager of the SPECTRO project will be set at the end of each Recruitment Period to agree and deliberate on the final merit score of each applicant.

Promotion of diversity in terms of gender, social and economic background

The SPECTRO scholarship programme will thrive to promote diversity and inclusion through its scholarship opportunities:

• Priority will be given to female applicants from any EU country or EU-associated country. The scholarship programme for women will aim increase female participation in master’s programmes in Cybersecurity and Robotics.
• Priority will be given to applicants from RIS countries - included in the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS). The scholarship programme for participants from RIS countries is aimed to support the participation of students from countries with moderate or modest innovation score and with lower gross domestic product. Countries eligible to take part to the RIS include 1) EU members states, 2) Horizon Europe associated countries, and 3) outermost regions such as Guadeloupe, and Réunion (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), and the Canary Islands (Spain).

Payment arrangements

The scholarship is reflected as a discount in the tuition fee. The candidates are informed of the net amount of the tuition fee, after deducting the applicable amount of the scholarship.

• half tuition fee waivers: the nominal value of the granted scholarship is of 2,500EUR per year
• full tuition fee waivers: the nominal value of the granted scholarship is of 5,000EUR per year
• scholarship of excellence, including a full tuition fee waivers and a monthly allowance: the nominal value of the granted scholarship is of 5,000EUR plus a monthly allowance of 900 EUR weighted based on the country correction coefficient (CCCs) of the country where a student is studying.

Number of scholarships available

Scholarships will be allocated on a rolling basis, until all financial support schemes are exhausted for the current recruitment cycle. With this call SPECTRO will make available 62 scholarships (including excellence, full waiver and half-waiver) to be distributed among the two Master’s programmes.